Forex News: Commodity Currencies Rise As Asian Shares Traded Higher

Commodity Currencies Rise As Asian Shares Traded Higher Amid Fed Rate Cuts

(RTTNews) - The Commodity currencies such as Australia, the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars strengthened against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Thursday, as the markets reacted positively after the U.S. Federal Reserve kicked off an anticipated series of interest rate cuts with a larger-than-usual half-percentage-point reduction, expressing greater confidence about inflation and reiterating its commitment to supporting maximum employment.

Fed officials also suggested the central bank will cut rates by another 50 basis points by the end of the year.

Fed officials also expect to continue lowering rates next year, with the projections indicating rates will be lower by another full percentage point by the end of 2025.

Gains in iron ore miners, energy and technology stocks, partially offset by losses in gold miner stocks, also led to the upturn of investor sentiment.

In economic news, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australia's unemployment rate held steady in August and employment increased strongly, suggesting that the labor market remained tight. The jobless rate remained unchanged at 4.2 percent in August, in line with expectations.

The net employment increased by 47,500 on month in August, which was much higher than the expected increase of 26,400. The participation rate held steady at a record high of 67.1 percent. In the Asian trading today, the Australian dollar rose to nearly a 4-week high of 1.0935 against the NZ dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 1.0896. The AUD/NZD pair may find its resistance level around the 1.11 region.

Against the yen and the euro, the aussie advanced to more than 2-week highs of 97.33 and 1.6539 from Tuesday's closing quotes of 96.56 and 1.6426, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 100.50 against the yen and 1.62 against the euro.

The aussie jumped to 0.6794 against the U.S. dollar, from a recent 3-day low of 0.6737. On the upside, 0.69 is seen as the next resistance level for the aussie.

The aussie edged up to 0.9240 against the Canadian dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 0.9207. The AUD/CAD may find resistance around the 0.93 region.

The NZ dollar rose to near 2-week highs of 89.25 against the yen and 1.7835 against the euro, from Wednesday's closing quotes of 88.62 and 1.7897, respectively. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 94.00 against the yen and 1.76 against the euro.

Against the U.S. dollar, the kiwi edged up to 1.6228 from a recent 2-day low of 0.6181. The NZD/USD pair is likely to find its resistance around the 0.63 region.

The Canadian dollar rose to a 9-day high of 105.52 against the yen and a 3-day high of 1.5102 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 104.88 and 1.5124, respectively. If the loonie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 106.00 against the yen and 1.49 against the euro.

Against the U.S. dollar, the loonie edged up to 1.3591 from a recent 1-month low of 1.3648. The loonie may test resistance around the 1.33 region.

Meanwhile, the safe-haven currency or the Japanese yen weakened against other major currencies, as Asian stock markets traded higher in the Asian session.

The yen fell to near 2-week lows of 159.42 against the euro and 189.42 against the pound, from yesterday's closing quotes of 158.61 and 188.42, respectively. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 163.00 against the euro and 194.00 against the pound.

Against the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc, the yen slipped to a 2-week low of 143.9 and a 9-day low of 169.19 from Wednesday's closing quotes of 142.27 and 168.44, respectively. The yen is likely to find support around 147.00 against the greenback and 172.00 against the franc.

Looking ahead, The Bank of England will announce its monetary policy decision is due at 7:00 AM ET. The BoE is expected to maintain its bank rate at 5.00 percent today but markets now focus on the pace of quantitative tightening programme. The bank could unveil another GBP 100 billion reduction in gilt holdings over the coming twelve months.

In the New York session, U.S. weekly jobless claims, current account for the second quarter, U.S. Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for September, existing home sales for August and U.S. leading index for August are slated for release.

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